The Shield of Morpheus
by RoosterHat
Summary: Seth Rushton never had the best of luck. Now, he is dragged along on a quest to stop the balance of power between two of the world's most powerful forces from being tipped.
1. I Get Stalked by Liquid Janitors

**Disclaimer: You didn't think I owned the concept, did you? Good think, because I don't. So don't think I did. Rick Riordan is a pretty brilliant guy. Give him credit for coming up with the concept of Camp Half-Blood and all that. All the credit for Mythological beings goes to my ancestors.**

A normal summer; that's all I wanted.

Sadly, that's not what I got. My name's Seth Rushton. Until recently, I went to a small, private school in Denver, Colorado.

Now, I would tell you that the rest of my family was dead, that I was perfect, and that my eyes changed color with my mood; however, none of that's true. In fact, I just felt like another normal kid. That all started to change one day.

I was thirteen, I went to an old, beat up looking diner with my mom (I admired her; she put up with me without having a meltdown). While we were eating, I noticed a group of three other kids around my age. Then, I heard a motorcycle pull up outside, and a man walked in, wearing a camouflage shirt and wrap-around shades. A red glow came from behind his sunglasses, almost as if his eyes were flames. He sat down across from the kids and started talking to them. I didn't pick up their conversation, because my mom grabbed me, shouting,

"Seth; finish your dinner; stop looking in on those people!" she said it as if she were extremely worrie

d. I finished my dinner and went home. I never saw the three strange kids again.

After that day, I began seeing weird things all the time. Like this one time my teacher tried to follow me home in my freshman year. He stalked me on the bus, and when I got off at my stop, the bus driver said he needed to talk to him. The next day, I heard that the teacher had been fired for harassing a student.

Two years later, all the weird events in my life began to make sense.

I sat at the table in the cafeteria with my lunch. "I can't believe it," I said, "Only two more weeks." I was happy school was ending. My Dyslexia made it hard to read, and even when I could, my ADHD kept me from being able to study.

"Yeah," My best friend, Joel said, "Can't wait for senior year, how about you?"

"I'm just thinking about summer, right now."

Let me explain. Joel Sevret was my best friend. He had come here from New York City in the beginning of junior year. He had green eyes, and I recognized him because of his dark brown hair. He tended to act weird, like this one time, when we had no way to get home back in November, and a friend of ours offered to let him use his cell phone. He reacted as if he had just been offered a lethal injection. But nonetheless, he was my best friend, as well as the only one that wasn't an idiot.

"Dude," I said, "Morris and Fred are stalking us again."

Morris and Fred were the two new janitors at our school. They were creeps, and seemed to enjoy watching me all the time. Joel always got nervous when they were around us. I actually didn't blame him. Morris whispered something to Fred.

"Uh… maybe we should move to another table." Joel said, slightly worried.

"It's fine," I said, 'It's not like they're plotting our deaths."

"You have no idea…" he muttered to himself. I dismissed it as a failed joke.

I looked at our creepy janitors. They were looking as obnoxious as always; fat, annoying, the kind of guys that you want to punch in the face as hard as possible. Suddenly, they flickered, revealing a sort of purple, liquid-ish outline of themselves, looking like dark purple ice sculptures with yellow eyes. That lasted for about a half a second, and occurred a few times, before I looked at Joel in disbelief. "Did I really just…"

"No," he replied, trying to cover something up, "What makes you think… everyone knows… I mean, it's not like… okay, you didn't see that!"

"You okay?"

"Fine," he said, "Never better."

After that, I kept a close eye on Morris and Fred for the rest of the day, and they acted pretty much normal (normal being a relative term).

"Mom," I said, "Something weird happened at school today."

"What happened, Seth? You can tell me anything."

My mom is one of the nicest women you'll ever meet. She's tall, and walks with a kind of swagger that makes you somehow know that she's nice, but can mean business; which is true. Combined with her auburn hair were her blue eyes: One of the few traits I inherited from her.

I told her my freakish story. All about how Morris and Frank had turned to jelly for a second, and how they didn't seem to notice. She looked surprised.

"Seth, are you sure that's what you saw?" She asked, as if she thought I belonged in a mental asylum.

"Yeah, Mom, I swear!"

"Hmm… your father would know how to handle this…" She said sadly.

My dad was a government mailman. In the past, my mom told me, he had been the messenger of royalty in the Mediterranean. I didn't think any countries in the Mediterranean had kings or queens, but I didn't tell her that. She said he had moved here and met her, thus, me. However, one day, and this is what my Mom had told me, he was in some sort of freak car accident while I was only a few months old.

"Why, Mom? You're good at handling this stuff, right?"

"Sometimes, even don't know, sweetie." I was confused by this. I thought my Mom was pretty much on top of everything. She solved each and every one of my problems when I was younger, now that I was older; I realized that even she wasn't Wonder Woman. "Just try to stay away from them, and if they try to hurt you, tell Joel, he can help."

"Why? He doesn't seem that tough."

"Trust me, honey; he's probably your best bet against those two. I'm starting to wear down a bit, now."

"Okay, thanks, Mom."

She nodded, "You're welcome."

I went to bed, ready for the next day. Over the next two weeks, I tried to forget about the events on that day, hoping something as creepy as that never happened again.


	2. My Life Gets Six Times Stranger

It was three days before school let out, and I was psyched; no more school for three months; what could be better? Well, I suppose no school for three years, but, whatever. So, as I was saying, I sat in Biology class (boring, as usual) taking my final exam. The room took on a creepy vibe as I took the test, my hand trembling. Then, the door creaked open, and Joel's head peeked in, "Excuse me," he said, "I need Seth Rushton to go home."

"Seth, you're good, go home, finish the test tonight, I want it done tomorrow."

"Okay, Mr. Miyamoto; got it." I followed Joel into the hallway, he seemed worried. "What's wrong, Joel?" I asked.

"N-nothing!" He replied.

"I'm not stupid," I said, "What's wrong?"

"Look, I'm taking you home, you'll thank me later."

Of course, Morris and Fred _had_ to show up. Joel panicked, forcing me to move faster. The fat janitors ran towards us at a surprising speed, and Joel did the unthinkable; he kicked Morris in the stomach. Morris stumbled backward, buying us time to escape, but not before he groaned something about blood. "Come on!" Joel shouted.

We ran outside onto the sidewalk, and Joel whistled on his fingers. Afterwards, he looked at me, and said, "We have less time than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain when we get to camp."

"Camp?"

"You'll see; it had to do with what Morris said… oh, look! There's our ride!"

Far off in the sky, I saw an eagle swoop towards us. But on closer inspection, I realized that it couldn't have been; it had four legs, its back legs were tipped with paws. "What the heck is that?" I asked, terrified.

"Don't worry." Joel said.

The mistake of nature landed in front of us, and I got a much better view of it. The creature had a lion's body, and an eagle head and wings. Much to my amazement, it was a creature I thought didn't exist: It was a Griffin. "Hello, Joel." It said, in a slightly British accent."

"Hello, Acraepheus." Joel said in respect.

I rubbed my eyes in skepticism. "I think someone put something in my drink at lunch." I said. I mean, I didn't believe it; a mythological creature just landed in the middle of Denver, and nobody even noticed? No way!

"Trust me," Joel said, "You aren't dreaming, or drunk, just get on Acraepheus's back."

"No way."

"Come on, I'm going to."

"I will if you will."

Joel climbed on the creature's back.

Dang; I Followed reluctantly.

"Hold on tight." Joel said, "These things fly fast."

'Um, I have feelings." Acraepheus snapped. Then, we entered hyperspace; at least, that's what it felt like. After about ten seconds of paralyzing fear, the Griffin slowed; over New York City.

"Whoa! New York? We're going to _New York_?"

"Sort of," Joel replied, "More like Long Island."

"Oh, that makes me feel good." I said sarcastically. I didn't like the idea of being this far away from my Mom. Acraepheus landed on the ground near a giant pine tree and a big dragon, which was fast asleep at the tree trunk; thank goodness. We slid off his back and walked past the tree, into what seemed like another world. The land beyond the pine was sloped down into a slight valley, with twelve, ancient Greek looking buildings in the shape of a U, each with different designs and colors, with other buildings scattered around the outside of the U. Around the small buildings, I saw an assortment of other buildings, including an amphitheater.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." Joel replied. A duo of strange looking people walked up to us. The first one had curly hair and bloodshot eyes. He wore a tiger striped Hawaiian shirt and purple running shoes. The second one, well, he wasn't exactly human; well, he was, until I looked at his legs; more accurately, his horse body. He had long, brown hair, and a beard that can only be described in one word: Awesome. "Welcome" the second guy said.

"Yeah," Guy number one said unenthusiastically, "hi, welcome to Camp, blah, blah, blah, hoorah!"

"Dionysus," Number two said, "could you try to be a little more supportive?"

"Wait," I said, "Dionysus? I've heard that name, but, where?"

"Yes," Dionysus replied matter-of-factly, "Us gods tend to be relatively popular."

"Gods?" I asked, still confused.

"Come with us." The Centaur guy said. He brought us to a round table, on the deck of the Big House, as he called it, and began his speech. "Seth, is it?"

I nodded.

"Okay, Seth, first, it would be impolite to start without telling you my name. I am Chiron, immortal trainer of heroes."

"Wait… what?"

"Do you remember Hercules? How about Theseus? Have you ever heard of Achilles?"

"Yeah," I replied, "They were heroes in Greek Mythology, right?"

"Ah, there's what I'm aiming for, the man―"

"Horse." Joel said, trying to mask it behind a cough.

"Very funny," Chiron replied, clearly amused, "As I was saying, how do you think those men became so great? I was their trainer."

"That makes no sense!" I said, "What the heck's going on here?"

"Please, you must believe me; does my horse body look unreal to you?"

"No, but I still think this is a dream?"

"You must wake up from the dream you consider reality." Chiron replied.

"Gah, just… finish your story."

"Indeed, you see, the Greek pantheon does, and always has, existed."

"What do you think I am?" I asked.

"The truth is hard to accept, but it is still there."

"Okay, prove it."

"As if my horse body is not enough; take Joel, for example, his father is the god Morpheus."

"I thought this was Greek Mythology, not the Matrix."

"Morpheus is the god of dreams." Joel said.

"Oh, sorry; but I still don't believe you."

"Joel, if you would just show the stubborn brat!" Dionysus shouted.

Joel thrust his hand out, his eyes glowed purple, and I felt sleepy; in fact, I found it hard to stay awake. After a few more seconds, the drowsiness went away, and I was wide awake again.

"Okay," I said, "gosh; I believe you!"

"With that in mind," Chiron said, "Joel has told me some things about you; you live with your mother, correct?"

"Yeah"

"Ah, did you ever meet your father?"

"He was still alive when I was a few months old."

"And he still is."

"No," I started to feel a bit sad, "he died, don't try to make me feel better."

"No, your father was a god. You are only half mortal; you are a demigod, just like Hercules, Perseus, most everyone here…"

"Wait, so, I'm like Joel? I can make people fall asleep?"

"No, I don't believe so, you don't resemble at all."

"So, then, who's my father?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. Joel, would you please show our new camper around?"

"I would be honored, Chiron."


	3. I Get Beat Up By a Girl

Well, I just found out that the Greek gods are real. To be honest, I still didn't believe them, I was just sick of hearing them try to convince me.

Joel showed me around camp, he explained that demigods were also known as Half-Bloods, which caused a lot of things, such as the camp's name, to make sense. He took me to the horse stables (Chiron's least favorite part of camp), the Mess Hall (actually, quite clean), the Climbing Wall, and the Amphitheater; but the most interesting of all was the Arena.

Joel brought me inside of the Arena. It reminded me of the Colosseum in Rome; with a dirt floor and rows where the audience sat. Targets were set up, and archers shot arrows at them.

"So," Joel said, "This is the Arena, and… oh, good. The archers are practicing."

I looked around, "This place is awesome," I said, "It's so… whoa!" I had noticed one of the archers, "W-who's that?"

The archer was about my age and height. She had brown hair that flowed a bit past her shoulders. She had a golden bow, and every arrow she shot hit the bulls eye with perfect accuracy.  
"That's Kylie Peterson," he replied, "Daughter of Apollo." Of course, he had to explain who Apollo was.

Kylie fired one last arrow off before pressing the middle of the bow. It turned into a backpack, and she walked towards us. "Hey, Joel," she said, "I was just… who's this?"

"This Is Seth Rushton…" He looked at me for a second, "I…and I think he's got the hots for you."

"What? No!" I retorted, hitting him. I noticed that Kylie had light brown eyes. I don't know why, but I'm fascinated by eyes and eye color. "So, um, Kylie… what's… up?" I sounded like an idiot.

'Nothing, really." She replied, "How about you?"

My honest thought? Oh, my gosh! She's talking to me! I recollected my thoughts, "Oh, um ahem… not too much… just found out I'm a half-blood…"

"Oh, that's cool!"

I nodded.

"Well, I have to go practice some more, see you guys later." Kylie walked back to her previous spot and started shooting the target again.

After a few seconds, Joel said, "You lie like a fish."

"What?"

"You're into her."

I rolled my eyes.

Finally, Joel showed me what I wanted to see most…no, not more Kylie! The cabins; there were twelve in a U, one for each of the twelve Olympian gods, and various minor god cabins, including the Morpheus cabin.

"…and here's where you'll be staying." He opened the door to Cabin eleven, and a kid (well, it's not fair to call him a kid, he was most likely older than me) with brown, curly hair and brown eyes walked up to us.

"Hey, Joel, who's the new meat?" The guy asked.

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing, Seth." Joel replied, "Travis, stop scaring him."

"I'm just joking, dude, don't worry. But seriously; regular or undetermined?"

I don't know what you―"

"Undetermined" Joel answered for me.

"What does that even mean?"

"You see; undetermined means that your god parent hasn't claimed you as his or her child. Until you're claimed, you'll stay here, in the Hermes Cabin."

"Hermes doesn't care who he sponsors." Travis said, "That's why he's so awesome."

A guy who looked almost exactly like Travis tossed me a bag, "Here," he shouted, "Put that on the floor."

"But there's a few open beds―"

"You shouldn't be in here very long. No need to waste a bed when a new Hermes kid might come along."

"Oh"

"But, it _is_ getting late, maybe you should get to sleep."

"Okay," I replied, "sounds good." I had managed not to have a breakdown my first day, even though I had been relocated across the country, away from the ones I loved.

On day two, I met some of Joel's friends, including a nice guy named Lucas. His father was Hephaestus, the god of fire and forges. However, I also met another one of his friends, our first encounter was pretty strange.

"…and this… is my least favorite part of camp, this is where the Aphrodite girls meet to talk trash about everyone; but, there is one person I'd like you to meet." He looked into the group of about ten girls, until he found whoever he was looking for, "Jessica; over here! I'd like you to meet someone!"

A blond girl with brown eyes (did you know that brown is the most common eye color?) walked to us. "Hi," she said, "Jessica Conway, nice to meet you."

"Oh, I'm Seth Rushton; Nice to meet you, too."

"Kylie, Lucas and I rescued her from the Lotus Hotel and Casino about a year ago. She was lucky; no one wanted another Aphrodite kid at camp."

"Well, she is Aphrodite; she isn't _all _that great; just the goddess of love and all that."

Jessica rolled her eyes and snapped her finger. My thoughts became clouded with thoughts about… well, her. I couldn't seem to get enough of Jessica Conway for a second, until she snapped her finger again. "That's why Aphrodite's awesome." Jessica said.

After that, Joel brought me to the Big House. "Okay," he said, "They usually meet here, around now…"

"Who?"

"Seth, are you ready to meet some celebrities?"

"Celebrities; You mean, like, famous people? Like, Robin Williams? Or Tim Allen? Or _Kay_ _Panabaker_?"

"No," He replied, "Sorry, the _Camp_ celebrities, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood."

"Dang"

"Don't worry, they're cool."Joel insisted, "Oh; here they come!"

A trio of Campers walked towards us. The first was a boy and had black hair and green eyes. The second, a girl, had blond hair and grey eyes and was talking to the first. The third was the weirdest. He had brown hair, but what I was paying most attention to was his pair of goat legs. Yes; goat legs. Joel explained which of the three was which to me.

The first Camper (Percy, as I was told) took notice of me, "Who's this?" he asked.

"Oh," Joel said, "This is Seth, the new guy. He's unclaimed…so far."

"I remember when you were unclaimed."

"Wait, j-just a second!" I said, "You guys look familiar…" It finally hit me; these were the same kids I had seen in the diner four years ago. I didn't say anything, to avoid creeping them out.

"Oh, hi, Seth." The girl (Annabeth, the daughter of Athena) said.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," I replied.

Grover (The Satyr and the third one) was more interested in the flower I was randomly kicking, "Hey! Stop that!" He shouted, "Why do you hate the forest?"

"Oh, I'm…um… I guess I'm sorry. But, I've been dying to know, what's up with that huge pine tree near where... um… oh, that's right, Acraepheus landed? And what was up with Acraepheus?"

"You see," Joel said, going into his _I'm_-_going_-_to_-_explain_-_this-to-Seth_ voice, "Acraepheus is a Griffin, correct?"

"Well, yeah, but―"

"And Griffins are known as the servants of the god, Apollo, right?"

"Sure, but―"

"And who do we know that has to do with Apollo?"

"Oh, um... Kylie, right?"

"Exactly, Apollo sent Acraepheus to watch out for her, you know, just in case."

"Oh, that's cool. How do you know all this?"

"Kylie, Jessica, Lucas and I went out on a quest last summer. I saw it all."

"I see… wait, a quest?"

He explained that since the gods can't cross into each other's territories unless invited, they sent Half-Bloods to do their work.

"That's cool."

"Yeah, that's until you get sent on one." He replied.

After that, Percy brought us to the huge pine he called Thalia's Pine. He explained that Zeus's daughter had sacrificed herself at that spot and had become a pine tree for seven years, before being resurrected by the Golden Fleece, hence, Peleus the dragon.

Then, I remembered someone — my Mom.

"Oh, I'd better tell my mom what's happening." I pulled my phone out (my uncle had gotten me a nice cell phone for my birthday, but my Mom didn't let me have it. What did I do? I sneaked it out of the box and made it look like I had never opened it) and was about to call her, when Grover swatted it out of my hand, over the boundary line.

"Dude, what was that for?"

"Technology attracts monsters! You can't use any inside Camp!"

"Whatever."

Days three and four were uninteresting, all I seemed to do was get used to schedule at Camp.

On day five, I was publicly humiliated. You see, we underwent daily training in the Arena, but today's form of training was…

"Hand-to-hand Combat!" Clarisse, head counselor of the Ares cabin said.

"Okay," I said, perfectly ready, "Who's the poor guy I'm beating up?" I was pretty good at this kind of stuff; I figured it would be easy.

Clarisse pointed to someone in front of me. I looked in the direction she pointed, and saw kylie standing there, smiling sweetly. She held her hand up for a second to say hi.

"Hey," I said in a hushed tone, leaning towards Clarisse, "can I tell you something?"

She nodded.

"I can't beat her up, she's a _girl_."

Clarisse shrugged, "Not my fault."

"Um… okay" I aid. I started to run unenthusiastically towards Kylie. She looked pretty scared. I got within a few feet from her, and her expression changed to a wicked smile. She shoved into me, and I tried to shove back; suddenly, time seemed to slow around me. I took notice of the bracelet on her wrist. I figured I could make a few bucks off of it around Camp. I slipped the bracelet off of Kylie's wrist and stuffed it in my pocket. Time sped back to normal, and Kylie continued shoving. She kneed me in the stomach, and down I went. Once there, she kicked me in the gut. She stood, arms crossed, looking down at me, smiling as if she were all that.

I stood up on wobbly, painful legs, "G-g-gods, (I was told that was the correct thing to say) what was that?"

"Demigods are trained to survive."

"I-urk- can see that. They're also trained to cause internal bleeding…"

"Yeah, I'm… hey, where's my bracelet?"

I figured I should come clean before she tore me in half. "Here, I took it."

"When?"

"You didn't notice?"

Kylie looked at Clarisse. The daughter of Ares nodded. Kylie looked back at me, "Seth, I think I know what's going on here."


	4. I Kill a Camper

"Hey, Kylie," someone shouted from behind us, "I need to talk to you!"

The one who shouted was a teenage girl with black hair and brown eyes. She was about my height. In her hair was a silver hair clip.

"Wait a second, Destiny!" Kylie screamed.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Destiny Pedroza, daughter of Poseidon" She replied.

Destiny walked up to us and Kylie introduced me before continuing the oh-so important news she was telling me before, "Seth, I think I know who your father is."

"Oh, who?"

"I think your father is Hermes."

"What?" I asked, pretty upset, "Hermes? That's it?"

"Seth," Kylie warned, "d-don't…"

"I mean, Percy and Destiny get _Poseidon_, you get _Apollo_, Joel gets _Morpheus_, and I get Hermes?"

Thunder shook the entire Camp. So hard, I swore it hit right near us.

"Seth," Kylie screamed, "Shut up! You can't make the gods angry!" You see, there's fun, good natured Kylie, and then there's upset, ticked-off Kylie. Kylie number two rarely came out, but when she did, she made herself known.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry; I swear!"

Everyone looked above my head for some reason. I did the same as them, and saw a gray staff hovering over my head with two snakes entwined around it ― a Caduceus, as Joel had called it. It looked like a hologram and after a few seconds, it had vanished.

"I knew it…" Kylie muttered. The sky had become dark and stormy.

I rushed back to my Cabin, "Travis, Connor, Chris! Guess what! I just got claimed by Hermes!"

"Did you?" Travis asked.

"Yeah, isn't it awesome?"

Chris didn't seem as impressed, "Yeah, have fun with that." I had been told that his life was pretty bad. He had gone into the Labyrinth a few years ago, and was driven insane. Clarisse was able to cure him, however. I still felt sorry for him.

The rest of the day, I went about Camp activities and made sure everyone knew who my father was. That night, Connor walked up to me sneakily, which was never a good sign,

"Hey, Seth."

"What?"

My half-brother slid my phone to me, "Just… be careful with that."

I nodded, going over to my bed. I was incredibly curious about being a child of Hermes, so I used the internet on my phone to look it up. I found plenty of useful stuff about Hermes, and about the cool things that he did. I kept that up until I couldn't stay awake any longer. I put the phone under my mattress and turned around in my bed to fall asleep. Before I did, I could swear I heard some sort of inhuman roar off in the woods.

The next morning, I woke up, changed my clothes, and slid my phone in my pocket. I walked with the rest of my cabin to the Dining Hall for breakfast. We were happily eating breakfast, when Chiron slammed his hoof on the floor a few times to get our attention.

"Young heroes," He shouted, "I am glad you are enjoying your breakfast! I must remind you, Capture the Flag is tomorrow!" Everyone cheered; Dionysus plugged his ears. "But, on a much sadder note," he said, his tone turned dismal, "As I was taking my morning walk through the woods, I found… this." He held up a torn leather jacket with bloodstains on it.

"But wait," Joel said from his table, "That's…"

"Yes," Chiron said, "This jacket belongs to Coia Ashmore, daughter of Morpheus."

"So, Coia is―"

"Unfortunately, Coia is dead." Chiron said, "There is no way she could have survived."

"So, that's where she went…" Joel sighed deeply.

"This may hurt to talk about now, but we must inform you all that Morpheus has caused far too much trouble than we can let go unnoticed."

"What?" I asked

"Morpheus is threatening the balance between two very powerful forces; he claims he is open to reasoning; we will accordingly send four demigods to deal with the matter."

"Well, how?" I asked.

"You see," Annabeth said, "Morpheus, being the god of dreams, has his own Dream World. Chiron plans to send four of us into it to―"

"But only other Olympians can enter his Dream World." Percy interrupted.

"Usually," Annabeth replied, "But there is one way demigods can enter."

"And, how's that?"

"If anyone can find the five parts to the Shield of Morpheus, they will be shown the way to the Dream World, as well as be able to leave."

"Correct," Chiron said, "I believe we should send Joel Sevret as the leader on this quest!"

"What? No!" He said.

"Joel, if we send Morpheus's son against him, he will be discouraged. Who else will accompany this young man?"

Kylie raised her hand, "I'd like to go!" She said.

"Count me in!" Jessica shouted.

"Okay, Joel, Kylie, Jessica, who's going to be the fourth quest member?"

"Maybe Annabeth," Joel said, "She's probably the smartest person I know."

Kylie and Jessica agreed.

"Um, okay; I guess." Annabeth said.

"So, it's decided; Joel Sevret, Kylie Peterson, Jessica Conway, and Annabeth Chase will be the quest team."

I stood up to go to the bathroom, and my phone slid out of my pocket, hitting the floor. Everyone gasped and stared at me like I had snuck a rifle into Camp. Chiron and Dionysus were enraged.

"Seth Rushton," Chiron shouted, "Please, tell me you haven't used that!"

"I-I'm sorry, I… did…"

"Let me get this straight," Dionysus said, clearly ticked-off, "You used that phone at the same time we lost a camper, you're the cause of Coia's death!"

"Look — I swear, I had no idea!"

"Now, wait," Chiron said, "It may have not been Seth's fault; it may be one of the monsters you stocked for Capture the Flag."

"Oh," Dionysus replied, swiveling his foot, "about the monsters for Capture the Flag… um, yeah, I didn't stock them yet…"

Chiron looked at Dionysus sternly, "We'll deal with this matter later, but as your punishment, Seth, the only suitable method would be… um…"

Dionysus whispered something in his ear.

"Ah, yes, perfect. Seth, Rushton, _you_ will be the fourth quest member. As such, you will not be competing in Capture the Flag."

"What; why?"

"We find it best to keep you away from Camp, to avoid killing anymore campers. I am sorry."

"With any luck," Dionysus said, "You'll die on the quest and we won't have to deal with you when this whole matter is over."

'Okay, but, I don't have a sword or anything!"

Chiron seemed to realize this, "Come with me." He and Dionysus brought me to the Arena, over to a large chest filled with basically every sharp, Classical weapon you can name.

"What should we give him?" Chiron asked.

Dionysus thought about what weapon would result in my death the quickest, and said, "Give him a _Xiphos_."

"Very well" Chiron reached around inside the box and pulled out a pen. He tossed it to me, and I realized something: it was shorter than an average pen by about an inch.

"Um, this is great, but, what's a _Xiphos_, and, is this a pen?"

"Well," Chiron explained "A _Xiphos_ is a short sword, used in Ancient Greece. I believe the Spartans used it as a secondary weapon."

"Oh, cool, but, where _is_ it?"

"Click that pen."

I was about to, when Chiron shouted, "No, wait; take your finger off the top!"

I did so, and then clicked it. The blade was about 50cm long (which is short, for a sword), with a leather grip. "I don't think I'll get very far with a short sword."

"Ugghh, do you know how to use a regular sword?" Dionysus complained.

"Yeah"

"Just imagine that, but shorter."

"Okay, fine"

"You leave for your quest tomorrow morning; please, be prepared."

"Okay," I replied, "I've got a short sword, unsupportive supervisors; I'm going to die, hope you're happy!" Neither of them was very happy.

So, I felt ready, if by ready, you mean ready to get slaughtered by the gods know what. I went about camp activities for the rest of the day, that night; I practically stayed up all night, out of fear. I met up with my fellow quest members, ready to take this thing on.


	5. I Consult an Oracle

As I walked to meet Kylie, Joel, and Jessica, no one talked to me out of disgust. I felt guilty, after all, I did _kill_ a camper. Not even the Hecate girls talked to me.

I should explain them. There were three of them: Melina, Demetria, and Alyx. They were pretty weird, they always had a mysterious air to them, and they all looked like fortune tellers. They were fluent in ancient Greek. Once, they turned Clarisse's sword into a swarm of bees. Clarisse really didn't appreciate it. Their cabin was made of magic-infused bricks that seemed to whisper things every once in a while, maybe ancient spells, or something. Their voices were deep and chilling, but in a good way that made me melt.

As I walked past the Hephaestus Cabin, Lucas stumbled out, "Seth; wait up!" I stopped to pay attention to him.

"You'll want this; I made it just for you!" he tossed me a wristwatch.

"Oh," I said, "um, thanks; nice watch."

"Press the glass, and it turns into a shield! It's pretty strong, but be careful!"

"Okay, thanks!" I rushed to the Big House, where my quest mates were waiting for me.

"Oh, good, you're here." Chiron said, his voice featuring a twinge of annoyance.

"Alright, are we ready to leave?"

"Oh, heavens no; first, you must consult the Oracle."

"Ooh, the Oracle?"

Dionysus walked over to a ceiling door, pulled on the cord, and stairs gently fell to rest on the floor, sending dust everywhere.

"Come on; up here!" He coughed.

Our quest team followed him up to an attic, with all sorts of cool junk, like a Hydra head, a scimitar, and a pink scarf. I picked the scarf up and sniffed it. My mind was clouded again, only this time, I was paying attention to Kylie. I couldn't think about anything but her, when Dionysus shouted, "Gah; put that thing down; now!" He tore it out of my hand and threw it back to where it had previously been.  
"Ah, here we are, here is the Oracle of Delphi. Keep in mind that this is Joel's prophecy."

He pulled a colorful curtain back to reveal the Oracle.

To be honest, I expected to be some sort of mystic looking woman who would talk all smoothly. But it wasn't: it was a teenage girl with frizzy red hair, green eyes. She wore a ratty t-shirt and jeans that were ripped at the knees and shins. There were plenty of paintings of past events, such as Hercules defeating the Nemean Lion and the Battle of Thermopylae.

"Excuse me, Rachel," Joel said, "We're about to go on a quest, can you help us out?"

After about a minute, her eyes (and I mean, her entire eyeball) turned serpent green, and she uttered:

_Four shall travel the land of the gods_

_The young heroes must defy all odds_

_To restore the balance between Heaven and Hell_

_Beware of the one under the young woman's spell_

"Translation?" I asked.

"Sorry," Chiron said, "That's not how it goes."

"I wrote it down." Joel said, "Let's go."

"Wait," Dionysus shouted, "Don't leave without this!" he walked towards us with an old, rolled up map. He unrolled it and blew the dust off of it. I took a peek; it had a map of the United States, as well as the Bermuda Triangle. "You see, when you step out of Camp Boundaries, it will reveal the location of the first piece. After finding that, it will show you where the next piece is. You can't find out where the second piece is without finding the firs, and so on; understand?"

We nodded, "What's that?" Jessica asked, pointing to a picture of a silver, circular shield with a gold sphere in the middle.

"That, Jessica, is the Shield, of Morpheus." Chiron said, "Good luck, young heroes."

"Yeah," Dionysus said, "No one die, except Seth."

How did I know that was coming?

Our group walked out towards Thalia's Pine, but Joel stopped right after we walked a few feet from the Big House.

"Wait," Joel said, "I have to show you how Iris Messages work; it's pretty cool!" He walked over to a fountain that sprayed a mistinto the air, creating a rainbow. Joel pulled a Golden Drachma (An ancient Greek coin that's about the size of a Girl Scout cookie) said,

"Oh, Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering." He threw the coin into the rainbow, it passed through and hit the ground.

Joel cocked his head, "That's… weird." He tried again, but to no avail. "I'm sorry, Seth, but the Iris Messages aren't coming through."

"Oh, that's fine."

"Not really; but, let's go."

"But, hey," Kylie said, "I'm driving!"

"What? No Way!"

"Hey, it's my car and…"

"…my quest?" Joel finished.

"But, still; it's my car!"

"Okay; whatever!"

We stepped outside Camp Boundaries, and I unfolded the map. A spot on it began glowing purple, and the picture of an expensive looking restaurant appeared, with the words,

New Bedford, Massachusetts

written beside it. 

"Alright, Kylie," Jessica said, "We're going to Massachusetts."

"Okay, I said, but, I call shotgun!" I rushed up to Kylie's car and sat in my desired seat. Everyone else got in, ready for the drive to Massachusetts.

A little while into the drive, I decided I'd try something, "Hey, Kylie, you know, maybe after this whole thing's over, you and I could―"

"No"

"Fine"

After several hours of boring, uninteresting driving, we pulled in front of a restaurant that looked exactly like the one in the map.

"You guys ready?" Joel asked.

We nodded.

"Then, let's go!"


	6. I Get Interviewed

I'll spare you the details as far as how we managed to get a table. It wasn't easy, they kept asking us about our ages, and so, naturally, we had to keep telling them.

After we had ordered our food, I noticed the table behind us. There were nine women, maybe in their mi twenties. They were all dressed and behaving differently. However, they all had black hair and similar faces. I didn't tell the rest of my group about them, but they seemed suspicious.

'So," I said in a hushed tone, "Where do you think the piece is?"

Kylie shrugged, "I don't know."

"Morpheus probably put it where we'd least expect it to be. So… um, I guess we should look there."

I looked all around, in weird places, hoping I would see something made of silver. The waiter gave us our food, and we began eating. While we were enjoying our food, one of the women walked up to me. She wore an expensive looking jacket and a press hat with small pieces of paper stuck into it.

"Excuse me," She said, she had a voice like a TV anchor, "Clio, Muse of history here, I would like to ask you a few questions, what is your name, young man?"

"Um, Seth" I replied.

"Thank you, Seth, now, _tell _me, young man, just _what_ do you think about the Morpheus Crisis?"

"I, um… I think it's kind of unnecessary, I guess."

"Mhmm, I see, interesting." She said as she wrote my words on a clipboard, "Anything else?"

"Well, do you know where the first piece of the Shield is?" I hoped she knew what I was talking about.

"Young man, I'm afraid I don't."

"Oh, that's okay."

"But, thank you for your input; this may be published in Olympus Daily, again, thank you." She walked back and sat with the other women.

"Seth, do you know who that was?" Kylie asked.

"No, not really." I said, feeling stupid.

"That was one of the Nine Muses, daughters of Zeus, divine inspiration."

"Wait, so…"

"Maybe," Jessica said, "maybe we don't need force to get the Shield, maybe we just need to use our heads!"

"Brilliant, Jess!" I said.

After we finished eating, we walked to the Muses' table. Immediately, one of them noticed me. She wore a tye-dye dress and had a ribbon tied around her head.

"Ah, hello," She said, "Allow me, just a minute of your time, if you will." She sat me down next to her, "Now, let Urania read your future... do tell me, when were you born?"

"Um, October 17th."

"Ah, a Virgo, I see… hmm… I see… great things in your future, just stay away from Libras, you should be fine."

"Thanks, but I have more important things to do than astrology."

"Oh, fine, fine… fine."

Kylie, Jessica, and Joel were talking to one of the other Muses, who was wearing a pink sun dress and held a piece of paper.

"Seth," Kylie said, "Meet Calliope, Muse of Heroic Poetry."

"Oh, hey!"

"I wrote this poem," Calliope said, her voice was soft, "and, I want to know what you think." She showed us the piece of paper, on it, was written:

Do you not see?

The gleaming sterling

Entrenched on the gateway,

The doorway to the home of sweet rations

"So, what's that supposed to mean?" Jessica asked.

"That's what you should tell me."

"I think it might be about maybe missing a golden opportunity." Joel said.

It hit me like a bus.

"I think I know what it's about!" I said. I looked at the door to the kitchen, and saw it, the emblem of the restaurant, inside of it, as part of the design, was a silver quarter circle: The first piece.

"We need to get the silver thing off of that symbol, now!" I pointed to the kitchen door.

"The first part…" Joel said.

Jessica ran up and pulled the piece off the door, when one of the waiters noticed, "Hey, what are you doing with that?"

"Sorry, I need to take this; but you understand, right?"

She sat back down, our waiter walked over with our bill. I'll spare you as far as how much our food cost.

"I-I don't have that kind of money!" Joel shouted.

"I'll pay for it." Someone said from across the room. He wore a hoodie that managed to obscure his face, and spoke with a shady voice. He gave the waiter the money and walked away.

"That was weird…" I muttered.

"Just be glad that guy paid for our dinner." Kylie replied.

We thanked the Muses before we left; they wished us the best of luck.

"Alright, Kylie said as she started up the car, where to next?"

I unfolded the map, and a sort of purple water looked like it washed away an area east of Florida; the Bermuda Triangle. It revealed a sort of resort looking area, showing the words:

C.C.'s Spa & Resort

"Kylie," I said, "I hope you know a good boat rental place; we're taking a vacation."


	7. Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

We drove to the harbor (New Bedford is by the ocean), hoping we could find someone with a boat we could borrow.

Luckily, we came across Creepy Hoodie Guy again. He had a boat — just a fishing boat, but it would have to do. He told us not to get it too messed up. We agreed, and he tossed us the keys. Thank the gods Kylie had taken boating lessons from Destiny.

After a few hours of riding in the boat, I fell asleep. That night, my dream was pretty interesting.

I saw two men; one had gray hair and wore a brown robe. The other, black hair, and a gray robe. They seemed angry at each other.

"How could you, my own brother, go against me in my shining moment?" The older looking guy with gray hair asked.

"Your cause ― however noble you may believe it is — is wrong!" The black haired guy said, "Do not follow through with your plan!"

"The gods have cheated us, it is time they get what they deserve!"

"I will _never_ help you!"

"Then, I expect to see you on the warfront, brother."

"So be it" The man with black hair nodded and trudged away, although he seemed satisfied.

I woke up the next morning looking at the cloudy sky, wondering where we were, so naturally, I asked Kylie.

"We're somewhere around Georgia, we'll be in the _Thalassa apo Teras_, or, Sea of monsters, in about twenty minutes."

We ate breakfast and made small talk during that time. Everyone seemed worried sick, except me, that is.

"Guys," I asked, "What's going on? Why are you so worried?"

Kylie sighed deeply, and replied, "The entrance to the Sea is guarded by two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla has six heads and picks off a ship's crew one at a time, Charybdis is… well, I guess it's like, a giant mouth, I guess, it creates a huge whirlpool and destroys entire ships. You can't avoid one without getting too close to the other. Which one should we pass?"

"I think Scylla," I replied, "Our boat's small and fast. We can avoid the heads as best as possible. Charybdis would kill us all in a single move."

"Good thinking" Kyle replied.

After a bit of sailing, I saw a canyon in the sea up ahead, as well as a spot where the ocean seemed to disappear.

"There it is," Kylie said dismally, "The entrance to the Sea of Monsters. Are you guys ready?"

Our boat moved closer, and Kylie steered a bit to the left.

Then, I saw it: A huge monster with six dull brown dragon heads filled with serrated teeth, mounted on the ends of scaly necks. At the base of the scaly necks was a woman wearing a ragged up dress. All six turned in unison, catching the scent of demigods.

Kylie bravely drove our boat by Scylla, one of her heads lunged towards Joel. He ducked just in time as a huge serpent head closed its jaws on thin air. The creature lunged one of its heads at Jessica, she pulled out a double edged sword. It had a clear, sparkly blade and a shiny, purple one, each attached to a silver grip. She sliced the head off. That, my friend, is what we demigods call "impressive". Well, for a few seconds it was; considering that the beast's head grew right back. I turned around to focus on the monster more, and saw a reptilian head flying towards me. I rolled out of the way instinctively, but it wasn't enough. The creature bit down on the side of my arm. I grasped it with my other hand, when the creature roared at me; a cruel, unearthly roar. I fell with my back to the flagstaff, coughing (it's a huge, ancient dragon, do you _think_ its breath smelled good?) The creature cocked her head and pulled back to strike me; I was ready to die. Suddenly, a golden shaft of light nailed the head in the eye. The monster screamed in agony.

"Come on!" I heard Kylie shout, "Get up, save yourself!" I got up and rushed next to Kylie. She was holding a Golden Bow with all sorts of designs etched in it.

"Seth, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied sarcastically, "I got this giant _gash_ a while ago."

"No time for joking, we're almost out of the strait; we're going to make it!"

Unfortunately, Scylla wasn't too keen on letting us get away. As Kylie steered us away, one of Scylla's teeth scraped into the engine; damaging it. Kylie threw her head backwards, taking notice of the damage. She muttered something in exasperation, steering away as fast as she could. I ran towards the monster and drew my _Xiphos_ and cut the fang out of the monster's mouth. Scylla roared and her head drew back. Our panic was finally over and we were able to relax; except for the fact that our engine was damaged.

I unfolded the map, "We're close to the resort; we should get there soon!"

"Good," Joel replied, "This engine is only going to hold up for about a half an hour."

"Guys," Jessica shouted, "Look at this!" She pointed out to the open sea, where I saw a lump of greenery.

"What's that?" I asked.

"That's the island we're headed for, I think," Joel replied, "You know what? Let me check the map…"

Kylie sifted through her bag, looking for… something.

"Kylie, what're you looking for?"

"Well," She replied continuing to look through the bag, "I'm looking for my―" She winced and pulled her finger out of the bag, checking it for blood, "Styx!" She cursed, "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to say that…"

I shrugged in apathy.

She pulled a necklace out of the bag, "There we go!"

"Wait, so that's what you were looking for?"

She nodded innocently.

"So, anyway, I feel really guilty about killing Coia."

"Yeah?" Kylie asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, I can't stop thinking about it. It's eating away at me."

"Well, you didn't kill her _directly_." She replied, trying to comfort me.

"I know, but it's still bad."

"Seth, you don't need to worry about it. It happened in the past, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Yeah, but the stuff that Dionysus and even Chiron said were so―"

"Well, okay!"

"What?"

"Prove them wrong! Prove you can stop something other than a camper's heartbeat!"

After a few seconds, I replied, "Thanks, Kylie."

Our engine stopped working about a hundred feet or so from the shore of the island. We had to swim the rest of the way, which Jessica didn't like. None of _us_ liked having to hear her complain the whole way. We trudged to the shores of the island and caught our breath for a few seconds. I looked up and saw the huge rainforest that sprawled before us. Considering this was the Sea of _Monsters_, the gods only knew what was in there. This was going to be tough.


	8. I Get a Rediculous Makeover

We rested up until the sun had set, recovering from any panic from passing Scylla (me in particular, I was mortified after nearly being eaten by that stupid thing). My arm hurt like crazy. It had been slashed open by Scylla, and I didn't consider wrapping it up before jumping into the _salt_-water ocean.

Kylie noticed, and said, "Seth, you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied, "I got this cut a few days ago."

She knit her eyebrows, "That looks pretty bad, here, let me help." She put her hand on the open gash (yeah, not helping, Kylie, but then again, you are touching me…) and said a few words in ancient Greek (I think; it certainly wasn't English, and it's Greek Mythology that turned out to exist, so I'm going to guess it was Greek). Her hand started to glow yellow, as did my arm. I felt the wound close up, the pain eased. I looked at my arm, it was completely healed.

"Um, wow… thanks…" I said in amazement.

"You're welcome!' She replied innocently.

After night had set in, Joel led us through the forest, his eyes scanning the rainforest ever so cautiously just in case a monster attacked us. Leaves rustled, and Joel spun around, drawing his sword. Nothing attacked. We continued walking, hoping we'd find this resort thing soon; unless we were on the wrong island. What if this wasn't the island the map had shown us? What if we were searching in the wrong place? How would we get off the island?

Then, Kylie screamed.

I twisted around to see her struggling against some sort of evil shadow that had a grip on her arm. "Get it off me!" She screamed, "Get it off me!" She unsheathed a knife and stabbed at the silhouette. A loud, demonic roar hit my ears, and the creature fell to the ground, dead. We examined the body.

"What is it?" Kylie panted.

"Looks like it's just a demon," Joel replied, "we'll have to be more careful."

"That was horrifying!"

"Just try to forget about it," Jessica said, "the less you dwell on it, the better."

"Thanks, Jessica."

We continued on our way until we stumbled across a resort-looking building. This place looked beyond first class, like someone had devoted their entire life to making it look nice. We walked around to the front and walked in the door. We stepped up to the receptionist, who looked up and said, "Welcome to C.C.'s Spa and Resort, how may I help you?" It was funny; four sopping wet teenagers walk into her lobby, and she doesn't even seem the least bit concerned.

"Oh, Joel said, we―"

"No need to worry, Jocelyn!" A beautiful voice called, "Just bring them in here!" Jocelyn brought us into a room where the front wall was a huge, glass pane. The back wall was a huge mirror that reflected the room a countless number of times. She sat us down in some nice, expensive chairs. I took in my surroundings and noticed a metal pet cage, not what you'd expect to see in a resort, but whatever. A few moments later, a woman walked in, I assumed she was C.C…. wow…

She wore a black dress with designs of various animals that shimmered in the sunlight, piercing green eyes, long, dark hair that was braided down her back by thin, golden ribbons. She took immediate notice of Kylie and Jessica. "Oh," She said, "Allow me to treat you ladies to a makeover."

Kylie and Jessica looked at Joel and me. My best friend and I shrugged. The girls followed C.C. into the back room, kicking their shoes of casually before entering the doorway. The door shut behind them. We sat there for a few seconds, when a young woman walked in with a tray of smoothies. "Excuse me," She said, "Would you like some smoothies while you wait?" Joel and I took a smoothie off the tray and started drinking them. They tasted like strawberry, delicious strawberry. I finished mine and set it on the stand in-between the chairs.

"So," Joel said, "Now what?"

The door creaked open, the girls walked out, and my heart stopped. They were wearing black, spaghetti-strap dresses and black heels.

"Whoa…" I said looking like a love struck idiot; which I kind of was.

Then, something felt strange in my stomach. Other than the swarm of butterflies that had invaded it, I felt something welling inside of me. Suddenly, I felt myself shrinking. Kylie and Jessica looked on in horror as I shrank to the floor. I glanced at my hands; they were becoming pink feet with tiny claws at the tips of the toes. My sense of smell became keener as my sight diminished. I couldn't talk anymore, only squeak in horror. I was a guinea pig.

Oh, the humanity; I was a guinea pig!

I panicked, running around the room with my little Guinea Pig legs, I suddenly; felt myself being lifted by a hand with long fingernails. I turned and saw C.C. staring at me. Then, something hit me. C.C., the name had two C's in it, just like the name, Circe. Don't get me wrong, the only reason I had heard of her was because I had learned about her at school.

She smiled wickedly. I noticed another guinea pig on the floor: That must have been Joel. She carried me to the metal pet cage and was about to drop me in, when she dropped me… on the floor. Luckily, my guinea pig body was light enough that it only hurt _dreadfully_. I looked back, and saw an empty, small cardboard box on the floor. Kylie had thrown it at Circe in desperation, causing her to drop me. I scampered towards the box and pushed it open with my cute little guinea pig foot. I took a peek inside, and saw pills about the size of my head. I looked at the words engraved on them in ancient Greek; it took me a few seconds to see that it basically said, Hermes Vitamins… what? I don't know what it said, exactly, I'm not good at this, probably something like "Hermes's Vitamins" or something. I pulled one out of the box and started to nibble at it. Circe noticed this and reached for me.

"No!" Kylie shouted, randomly throwing the closest object to her; which happened to be a spoon on the stand next to my chair. It hit her in the back of the head, stunning her for a few seconds. I finished the vitamin and the spell reversed, turning me back into my normal human form. I quickly checked to see if the spell had preserved what I was wearing. Thank the gods I was still wearing clothes.

I noticed a necklace on Circe's neck. It had a small key-shaped charm on it; or, a key. I focused on the necklace, and time slowed again. I ran over and took the necklace off her neck. Time sped back up, and I stood acting as if I had never stolen from her. I figured the key was used for something important; otherwise, she wouldn't keep it around her neck. Circe was angry at me, even though she had no idea what I had just done. She snapped her finger, and a snake appeared, wrapped around my legs. I reached for it, but it hissed, pulling its head back to bite. At that point, I figured it was poisonous.

"Don't move!" Jessica shouted, "You can't risk getting bitten!"

I panicked and drew my _Xiphos_. I swung my sword to kill the snake, and it lunged. I jerked the sword as fast as possible. I heard a loud hissing sound and looked at my feet. A snake that had been cut in half lay at my feet, a pool of blood where it had been sliced. I sighed in relief.

"Excuse me!" Kylie shouted.

Circe looked her way.

"I don't feel beautiful enough, can you work on me some more?"

Circe rolled her eyes, "Okay, come with me." Kylie followed her towards the door. Once the Sorceress passed the doorway, Kylie slammed the door shut. She pressed against the door as Jessica put a chair against the knob. I threw a pill to Joel, who ate it, turning him back into a human. I looked for a locked door or something, something the key would… I saw it! A jewelry box, larger than an average one, was hidden in a potted plant by the huge window. I opened it and saw the second piece of the shield. It resembled the first, but had different designs on it. I pulled the piece out of the box quickly, "Guys," I shouted, "Run!" The girls picked their shoes up from the near the door and ran. We rushed out of the Resort… sort of. Kylie and Jessica were wearing heels, so it was kind of hard.

We burst through the doors with the second piece in hand. Now, we just needed to find a way out.


	9. Fishzilla Strikes

My eyes scanned their surroundings. I was looking for some way off this island. Then, I saw it: A speed boat, probably for use around the Resort. There was just enough room for us to get before Circe got to us (If she could make a snake appear at my feet, she can probably get through a wood door). Kylie shot our small boat across the Sea, leaving C.C.'s Spa and Resort behind us.

Ten minutes later, she turned her head, looking behind her, "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Jessica asked.

"Other boats," She replied.

Then, I saw two other speed boats tailing us. I shouted to Kylie.

"We have to lose them!" Kylie yelled back. They go close enough that I could see the drivers: Men wearing black t-shirts and pants. Their eyes were concealed by black sunglasses; there were two men to each boat. I wasn't sure if they were monsters or Demigods, but I knew they were Circe's security crew, sent to hunt us down.

I heard a loud crack and saw the water start to shoot up in little spouts as if something small was thrown into them at great force. We were being shot at.

"Seth," Kylie said, "Take over the controls!"

"But I―"

"Just do it!"

I sighed and took control of the boat. Then, I found the autopilot button. I don't know if speedboats are supposed to have autopilot buttons, but this one does. Kylie drew her Bow and let an arrow fly. I glanced backwards to see one of the guards get arrowed in the chest, his body falling over the side of his boat. I guess the other guy didn't know how to drive a boat, because soon after taking over, he smashed into a rock. That left one more. The second boat sped parallel to us, slowly getting closer to us. Jessica decided they were too close. She boldly jumped to their boat, drawing her sword. One of the guards threw a confident punch. Jessica dodged and slashed him in the side and knocked him overboard. However, when she knocked him over, she hit her right elbow on the side, losing her sword in the ocean. She looked over the edge before turning her head to see she was at gunpoint.

"No! Please, don't! Don't shoot me!" She pleaded. The guard's eyes softened and he put the gun to his side. Bad move. Jessica kicked him in the gut and flung him overboard. She stopped the boat; we did the same to get her back on, and continued on our way.

"Alright," Joel said, "Where to next?"

I glanced at our map. The location of the next part was a big one; the words seemed to be zapped off the papyrus: Hephaestus's Junkyard, New Mexico.

"We're going to need a ride." I muttered.

"S'okay," Kylie said, keeping he eye on the ocean ahead of us, "We'll just go back to New Bedford and get my car, we'll drive from there."

"Whatever you say,"

Kylie sighed, looking out at the ocean, "So, do you… I don't know, like being a Demigod?"

"I guess so," I replied, "I mean, finding out that my dad's still alive s good, but I'm not liking the whole 'running from monsters that are hunting you like animals'" thing."

"Yeah, it's tough at first, you'll get used to it eventually."

"So, I should get used to killing people?"

"No"

"that's what you did back there, shooting that guy's chest."

Kylie shrugged, "I had to do it. Try to think about it, they're evil, Seth, it's okay."

"I guess so. It was pretty awesome, too. I just don't get―" I saw a huge, dark green silhouette move under our boat. "D-did you guys see that?" I asked nervously.

"What?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know, it looked like a… a big snake, or something."

"A big snake?" Kylie asked, turning around. I nodded. The huge shadow moved towards us. Kylie nervously drew her bow; Jessica kept a hand on the lip gloss tube that doubled as a sword.

Suddenly, the water seemed to part as a huge scaly creature rose out of the water. Its jaws were filled with blade-like teeth.

Kylie stared at the monster in complete fear and managed to utter, "Cetus"

For the kids back home who don't know, Cetus was the monster that Perseus killed to rescue the princess, Andromeda, now you know.

Kylie instantly flung an arrow, but it fell uselessly off of Cetus's scales. The creature lunged for our tiny vessel, and Kylie barely managed to drive around it. Water splashed everywehere, completely soaking all of us. In all the confusion, Joel pulled a small sphere out of his pocket. He threw it at Cetus for all he was worth. There was a brilliant explosion, and the serpent was engulfed in green flames. In a last ditch effort, the burning monster smashed its head into our ship. The engine exploded, sending me soaring overboard. That was the last thing I remembered before blacking out.


	10. My Uncle Pays Us a Visit

The sound of waves crashing flooded my ears. I instantly sat bolt upright, wondering what had happened. Daytime had settled in, and the sun shone in my eyes. My throat was sore and several of my teeth ached. My clothes were damp; I had no injuries from the incident with Cetus. I was sitting in warm sand on a beach, but where? I scanned my surroundings, looking for my friends. I saw Joel and Jessica, still unconscious. I hoped. I searched frantically for Kylie. Then, I found her. She sat looking out to the sea, her hands supporting her head. I rushed up to her.

"Kylie, are you okay?"

She nodded.

"What's wrong?"

Kylie shrugged indifferently. "I guess my morale's just down."

"Why?"

"Think about it, we just nearly _died_! Heck, I don't even know how we made it out of there!"

"On the bright side, we're okay."

"I guess so."

"When do you think those two will wake up?"

"Hopefully soon, we're in… Florida, I think. We need to get to New Mexico… joy!"

The pain in my teeth got the better of me, "Gosh, what's with my teeth?"

"I think whoever rescued us gave us some Ambrosia, or maybe Nectar." Joel had told me about the food of the gods and how Demigods could use small portions of it for healing. But one thing stood out in her comment: "Rescued?"

"Think about it, we were in the open ocean, miles from any land. A sea monster smashed our boat… now, look where we are, Florida!"

"Obviously a deserted part of Florida…" I muttered, noticing the lack of other people.

Joel and Jessica eventually came to; we walked into the Florida wilderness, hoping to find civilization… or gods.

Joel turned to look at us, "Guys, I think I hear someone, let's go…" he pointed in front of him, "that way!" We kept walking until a long, shrill scream pierced my eardrum. I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see a giant scorpion or something, but instead, it was Jessica, who had a small spider on her leg. I thought Athena kids were afraid of spiders. He scream was so loud; a few birds flew from their perches in the trees. We helped Jessica regain her sanity and kept pushing on. Then the trees started rustling.

"What was that?" Jessica asked.

"Just ignore it," Joel replied, "it'll be better that way, save us some stress." The rustling intensified. Birds began flocking to the branches, watching something. Watching us. They looked just like ordinary pigeons, except they had strange, sharper beaks. Their eyes were trained on us, making me uncomfortable. One of them squawked and the rest stared at us.

"Oh, no," I said, "This is bad."

"Stymphalian Birds…" Joel trailed off.

"Okay, cover as much of your skin as possible!" Kylie warned, pulling her summer jacket over her head. I couldn't do much, because I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, so I curled into a ball on the ground.

The Birds spread their wings. What happened next surprised me. They swiped a wing across their bodies, flinging silver feathers towards us. My first reaction is to stay calm, it's not like they can hurt. That was before the feathers stabbed into my arms. Thank the gods I covered my head with my hands. The flock swarmed around us, pecking at my skin. I felt a warm liquid trickle down my arm. Everything seemed like it was coming to a close. All of our lives, the quest, and Joel's hope of one day becoming a country music star (but you didn't hear it from me). All of it.

Suddenly, I heard a, "P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-poker face!"

Oh, joy, I'm going to die listening to Lady Gaga, I thought. Then, the pecking sensation ceased. I struggled to stand up; everyone else was covered in small open wounds. Standing near us with a stereo was a handsome young man around eighteen or so. He had a similar look in his eyes to Kylie.

"You… saved us," I choked.

"I know, right?" He snapped his fingers, and the wounds that covered my arms and some of my face disappeared, the same happened to Joel, Kylie, and Jessica. Kylie smiled and ran over to the guy and gave him a hug.

"Oh, "I said, "Is he your brother?"

"No," Kylie replied spitefully, "This is my _dad_!"

"Oh…" I stood staring at him for the most awkward few seconds of my life. What? Apollo was a young looking guy! I thought he was Kylie's brother!

"It's cool," Apollo replied, "does this help?" He snapped his finger again and took on the appearance of a guy in his mid-thirties.

"You have no idea!" I replied in relief.

"I thought gods weren't allowed to help in quests." Joel said skeptically.

"Oh, so you don't want my help?" Apollo asked.

"Oh, no, we need it more than ever!"

Apollo's face became grim, "I came to tell you guys how much trouble Olympus is in. Morpheus grows more powerful by the minute, gathering minor gods and angry Demigods for his rebellion. Seth," He pointed to me, "Your father has been kidnapped."

Did he seriously just say that? I mean, I knew gods can't die, but the fact that he was kidnapped stung me. "What?" I asked, completely shocked.

Apollo nodded, "Morpheus apparently saw it fit that Hermes is out of the picture."  
"Well, tell Zeus about it!"

"Zeus is too angry at Hades to do anything."

"Why's he angry?" Jessica asked.

Apollo shrugged, "It's really more of a matter of Hades being angry at Zeus, who in return, is angry at Hades."

"Okay, then why is Hades angry at Zeus?"

"I really don't know."

"Okay," Kylie said, "So let me get this straight: Morpheus is getting more powerful while Zeus and Hades scream at each other. Sounds like it isn't a coincidence."

"Exactly, I've warned some of the other gods, Athena believed me, but no one else."

"That's a start," Joel replied.

"Plus, have you ever _seen_ Athena? I mean, seriously, she's smoking―"

"Dad, give it a rest. She's a maiden. Forever."

"But, come on, Kylie," I said, "Couldn't you be a little more open like your dad?"

"Never in your dreams." She replied.

"Actually, the other night…"

Kylie gave me a cold stare.

"… I'm going to shut up now."

Kylie nodded and smiled, "Good choice."

"Be careful," Apollo warned, "You have no idea what lies ahead, go to the nearest road, Kylie, you'll find your car there."

"Thanks, dad!"

"Also, Seth," I expected the classic get-away-from-my-daughter thing but instead, he said, "Careful who you hang out with."

I nodded, not knowing what he meant.

"I have to go, guys," Apollo said. He kissed Kylie's forehead. Kylie looked away, so did Joel and Jessica.

"Look away," Joel said.

"Why?"

"Do you want to erupt into flames?" Joel asked.

"Heck, no," I replied.

"Then look away."

I did as he instructed. There was a bright flash of light, and Kylie's dad was gone.

"Whoa," I said after a few seconds, "Dude, Kylie, your dad is _awesome_!"

"I know, right?"

"Say, what does Athena look lik―"

"Seth, don't be stupid." Kylie snapped, half-joking.


	11. Matador Practice

Thanks a lot, Kylie. The girl loaded us into her car, planning on driving us to New Mexico. She blared the music in the middle of the night, telling us that everything was under control now. I wanted to believe her, but I knew I couldn't. Somewhere out there, Morpheus was growing more powerful. He had my father locked away somewhere, and had managed to get Zeus and Hades stuck in some stupid argument. The four of us had set out to stop him, but were we enough? On top of that, Dionysus wants me to _die_ on the way? Talk about prejudice! Jessica pulled her lip-gloss tube out of her pocket and examined it out of boredom, which made me think of something,

"Wait, I thought you lost that back in the Sea."

She turned to look at me, "Oh, didn't Joel tell you?"

I cocked my head.

"When you lose a Celestial Bronze weapon that belongs to you, it returns to your pocket… eventually."

I nodded in understanding and asked Joel, "Where are we?"

He looked around for a second and replied, "Somewhere in Texas."

"How do you know?"

"Because that billboard right over there said, 'Best Peaches in Texas', so I'm _assuming_ we're in Texas."

Suddenly, Kylie let out a shrill scream, and in a fit of true driving skill, careened off the side of the freeway, knocking the railing clean out, sending us into a huge ditch. Thank the gods no one else was on the road. When we got to the bottom, everyone climbed out. No one was hurt, but Kylie was ticked-off.

"I swear to the gods!" She screamed, repeatedly kicking the tire, "We just lost our…" I'm not going to tell you what she said next. Yeah, swearing in ancient Greek, not fun.

I leaned over to Joel, "What's she saying?"

Joel shook his head, "You don't want to know. By the way, you just got your first taste of Ticked-off Sailor Mouth Kylie."

"I thought she was a sunny teenage girl."

"Didn't we all?" He turned to Kylie, who was kicking the tire so hard I thought it was going to pop, "Watch your mouth, Kylie!"

She realized what she was doing and put her hands over her mouth, "Oh my gods, I'm _so_ sorry!"

"It's cool," I replied.

"Yeah, I get really mad while driving, I'm… sorry you had to see that."

"What the heck was that all about, though?" Jessica asked.

"I thought I saw a monster or something, I guess not."

We heard a loud snorting sound. "Or, maybe I _did_ see a monster."

After a few seconds of silence, Joel said, "Everybody run." We shot off into the woods (You can always find one when you need it), keeping our eyes out for any monsters. We finally ran out of breath.

"You think we lost it?" Jessica panted.

"Don't count on it, Jess." I replied. The ground began shaking. Not like an earthquake, but it vibrated enough that we knew something big was coming.

I saw the monster, bounding towards us, at least eight feet tall, covered in brown fur. It had a huge muscular body topped off with a bull head with curved horns the size of m hands. It was the Minotaur. I was frozen with fear. Sure, I had fought Scylla, but this thing was running directly toward me. It felt different. Bad, different.

"Seth," Kylie shouted, "Get out of the way!"

I came to my senses and jumped out of the way at the last second, causing the Minotaur to hit a tree. I'd love to tell you that its horn broke off on contact. That didn't happen. The tree was too thin. The Minotaur shook its head for a second and let out a huge moo. Sounds funny. It wasn't.

Kylie notched an arrow and let it fly. The arrow pierced the Minotaur's chest, but it seemed unaffected. She put her bow away and pulled out her secondary weapon: A small bronze knife.

"Kylie, don't! You'll get massacred!" Nonetheless, she charged at the Minotaur. The son of Pasiphaë noticed her and flicked his wrist, knocking her back a few feet. That ticked me off. I drew my _Xiphos_, shouting, "Keep your dirty hands off of Kylie!" and stabbed at it. The Minotaur grabbed me and threw me against the ground, completely shaking me. My ribs ached ― the ones that hadn't been shattered ― my back felt like it had been blown up. I coughed up something I prayed was ketchup. Suddenly, the Minotaur roared in pain. I looked my friends' direction. Joel was holding a revolver pistol, I don't know how it was legal, but I assumed it had Celestial Bronze bullets. Jessica pulled her sword ― she called it Gumdrop ― out and rushed to attack the Minotaur. The monster punched at her, she ducked and stabbed at it. The Minotaur blocked the sword with its thick fingers and punched again. This time, her sword slashed at its hand. The Minotaur roared in agony as it slowly disintegrated.

Jessica put Gumdrop away and rushed to me. Kylie had since gotten back on her feet, but I was in bad shape. Jessica pulled a bottle out of her purse and poured some of the contents (I assumed it was Nectar) in my mouth. It hurt going down my throat, but it tasted delicious. I felt my insides being healed, my rib fragments being put back together. I was able to stand up on a shaky pair of legs.

"Thanks Jess." I said.

"You're welcome, but that bloodstain on your shirt is nasty." She snapped her finger (Is that how everyone does everything?) and the bloodstain disappeared.

"What just happened?"

"I can remove stains. Clothes are under my mom's control."

"Okay," Kylie said, "We should turn in for the night. I'm beat." We all agreed. We had a long, weird day. Joel gathered some sticks that he claimed were good for burning. And so, they were. Kylie lit the fire, we ate some of our food, and I decided to try and freak everyone out.

"Full moon," I said, observing the pale circle in the sky, "I heard there were Werewolves in Greek folklore."

"Shut up!" Jessica said playfully.

"No, really, there are, think we'll see any?"

"I don't know, maybe. We'd better sleep in shifts. Kylie, you get the first watch!"

"And what makes you think I'd do that?" Kylie asked, her face glowing orange from the flickering campfire.

"'Cause Seth just totally freaked me out."

"Yeah," Joel said, "If any Werewolves come, you can just curse them out."

"Funny," Kylie responded, rolling her eyes, "We'd better get to sleep."

We all turned in for the night. Kylie would keep watch first, then Joel, Jessica, then me last. I fell asleep quickly, tired from all the horrific events of the day. My dream that night was simple but intriguing. It opened on… well, nothing; nothing but a swirling, dark purple backdrop.

Then, a voice rang out, a sweet, female voice, "I've been expecting you."


	12. Negotiations, to Say the Least

I had to know just one thing: Whose voice was that? It was so alluring; I needed to know, soon.

"Who are you?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you, but you can meet me out where Kylie crashed."

Part of me told me it was a trap. Another part (A more influential part, albeit) told me to follow the voice's instructions. "Okay, then I'll just get everyone togeth―"

"No," The voice interrupted, "Only you, Seth, no one else." For all I knew, it could've been a goddess, so I decided I'd listen.

"Okay, I'll meet up with you; I just need to wait for my watch shift."

"Very well, see you then."

My dream faded, and I woke up, being shoved by Jessica. "Come on," She urged, "Get up, it's your shift."

I waited a few minutes for her to fall asleep and looked at my friends. It was risky, stealing away to meet someone I didn't even know. They could be eaten, but I didn't care. I was too focused on the owner of that attractive voice.

I slipped away, walking for several minutes to the golden wreck that was Kylie's car. I looked around for the one who had called me in my dream.

Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind, "It's about time you showed up."

I jumped in surprise. I turned to see the most stunning teenage girl I had ever seen. Her back was facing me She was my age, easily. She wore a thin, black coat that trailed to her ankles over a black blouse and long pants of the same color. Her long, straight black hair reached a bit past her shoulders. The girl turned her head to look at me, revealing her pale-ish skin and sharp brown eyes.

"Whoa… who are you?" I asked, awestruck.

She didn't answer; instead, she just looked at me. After a few seconds, she poked my shoulder. "Hmm… interesting…"

"What?"

She paced around me saying, "You have such huge potential, don't let it go to waste."

This was beginning to confuse me, "Um, okay. Who are you?"

She stopped moving and shifted her weight to one foot, crossing her arms, "My name is Coia Ashmore, daughter of Morpheus."

Whoa. Wasn't that the name of the Demigoddess I killed?

"Wait, I thought I killed you!" I said, dumbstruck, "Wait; that came out wrong…"

"Oh, I understand. We all mess up sometimes."

"But how are you―? How _did_ you―?"

"That's easy. I gave Connor your phone. I called one of my father's pets to pick me up from Camp. I tracked you throughout your little quest, meeting you here."

"But, wait, the blood on the jacket ―"

Coia rolled up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a cut on her arm, "A little bit of pain is a small price to pay, especially considering what lies ahead."

"I… I guess… But seriously; this is so great! You're alive, now you can help us on the que―"

"Hah! As if I'd ever do that! No, you see, I'm not _on_ their side."

"What?"

"Of course not, Joel is an _idiot_. Zeus has ruled _long_ _enough_, it's time for _my_ father to take over!"

I was shocked, someone this beautiful working for the bad guy? I guess I could've taken the hint. If she _wasn't_ working for her father, why else would she have to fake her death to get out here?

"I'm not interested." I replied.

"Oh, come on," she replied in a soft voice, "My father promised me a high spot of power once we defeated Olympus, I can talk to him and get you one, as well."

"As tempting as that is, no."

"Please?" she asked, batting her eyes. It was getting more difficult for me to turn her down; and she knew that.

"But don't you know how powerful Olympus is?"

"Seth, once my father gathers enough of the minor gods and their children, revenge will be easy!"

She _was_ right, Zeus would be outnumbered. His chances of victory would be slimmed.

"But, I still don't think―"

"Just trust me, my father knows what he's talking about."

"Are you sure? Because Joel told me that―"

"I bet he said it was okay to drink the smoothies in the Sea. Was he right? Did he say there wasn't monster just hours ago? Was he right?"

"Well, no, but―"

"See? Joel doesn't know what he's talking about! He'll just end up getting you killed, which would be a shame."

"I guess."

"So, stick with me, Seth, I know what I was told to do, I haven't been attacked once since joining my father, wouldn't you like that? A nice, laid back lifestyle, with the world at your fingertips? And all you need to do is help me take out my brother and the rest of the quest team."

"I don't know, wouldn't that―"

"Come on, please?" She asked slowly, her hand on my shoulder.

I honestly couldn't take it anymore. She made a good point. She was intelligent. She knew what she was doing. She was gorgeous.

"Okay." I said, "I'll help you."


	13. I Manage to Get on Everyone's Bad Side

Coia said she had a plan. I honestly believed everything that came out of her mouth.

She pointed to a tree, "You're going up there."

"And what makes you think―?"

"Please? For me?" She batted her eyes.

"Um… okay." In the words of a certain young British boy, I… was weak.

"Wait, don't forget these." She handed me three throwing knives.

"What for?"

"I'll bring them over here and attack them. While you're in the tree, you'll pick them off with the knives."

"And what weapon do you have?"

She sighed and held her arm out, revealing a bracelet. "When Joel and his idiot crew come around, I'll attack them with this." She pressed a button on the bracelet and a blade flicked out from the side facing away from her. The blade glowed a sick green color.

"Is that… poisoned?"

She nodded, putting her hand on my shoulder, "Just make sure _they_ don't figure that out until it's too late."

I nodded and climbed into the tree and got ready. Coia climbed into a tree next to mine and made a sharp whistling sound that varied in volume to sound like a bird call. A Stymphalian Bird call. A few minutes later, our targets were in sight.

Instantly, Coia sprang into action. She jumped out of the tree, landing in front of Kylie. Joel seemed happy for a second, until Coia punched the daughter of Apollo in the jaw. Kylie staggered backwards as Coia activated her weapon. I threw a knife at Jessica. Her Demigoddess reflexes kicked in and she dodged it, drawing her sword. I was pretty well hidden, but they all knew someone was throwing knives at them. I focused and threw a knife at Joel. It managed to cut his arm slightly. He pulled his revolver out and shot into the tree, scaring the daylights out of me. I slipped, falling out of the tree and landing straight on my back. My old friends looked in shock as I lay there, gasping for breath.

"Oh my gods…" Kylie uttered.

"Way to be sneaky, Foxface." Coia shouted, mocking me furiously. "I mean, come on! Is it really that hard to hide in a dumb tree and―" A loud bang hit my ears. Coia cried out in pain and clutched her shoulder. I looked at Joel and I knew he had shot her.

"Wait," Joel said, "Coia… why?"

"Why? Because, it's about time Olympus got what it deserves!" Coia shouted, looking up at him. She pulled something out of her pocket and threw it on the ground. There was a blinding green flash for a second, and Coia was gone.

Kylie was not amused. She grabbed me by the hair and pulled me to my feet. "Way to go, you jerk!"

"C'mon, Seth!" Joel shouted, "What were you thinking?"

"I… um…"

"I'll tell you what he was thinking." Jessica said in a relaxed tone, "Coia probably hung over him like a curtain and asked him to help her."

"That's exactly what she did."

"I wasn't done, Seth." She snapped. "He couldn't turn her down because he's a guy. You know how they can be."

I didn't respond.

"Well, we're stuck in the middle of the forest without a car in the middle of the night. Now what?" Joel asked.

"Is the car really that messed up?" Kylie asked.

"I'd have to look inside the hood," Joel replied, "But I think I _may_ be able to get it working."

"Alright, cool." I said.

"Shut up, blondie!" Kylie shouted before grasping her jaw.

"Calm down, Kylie," Joel suggested, "You're hurt, remember?"

"Don't we have any of that Nectar left?"

"Yeah, but I want to save it for emergencies. Like when I thought it would be good to heal Seth. But he just stabbed us in the back after that."

"Seth," Kylie said, "I just can't believe that you'd…"

That crushed me. I realized I had just hurt Kylie, the nicest girl I knew. "Look, I'm―"

Kylie shook her head dismally, "Just… don't talk to me, Seth." She sighed and walked to her car.

"Oh, this isn't too bad. A bit banged up; but not bad."

"Like, how bad is it?"

"We can still drive it, but it'll need repairs when we're done with the quest."

"Okay, that'll work." Kylie said. She looked at me, "Come on, Seth, let's go."

Wait… What?

Hadn't I just tried to kill her? Why'd she want me to go with her? I decided to tag along anyways. It wasn't like I had anywhere better to be.

"So, can you guys forgive me?" I asked as we sped along the highway. Joel had managed to get Kylie's car running again. Apparently, the car was meant to handle falls like that. Kylie claimed it was because her dad was the best. I call it luck.

"I don't know," Jessica said, "can we?"

"Betrayal is huge, Seth." Joel said, "We can't just let something that _big_ slide."

I understood, not wanting to reply.

Kylie looked at the map, "Look up ahead." She pointed a finger at a gray spot on the horizon.

"What's that?" Jessica asked.

"That's Hephaestus's Junkyard; A.K.A the home of the next fragment."

That reminded me of our quest, the shield, and my father. My father. At that, I realized how stupid I was to betray my own father and follow some pretty girl. Well, now was the time to make things right. As long as I didn't screw it up some more…


	14. Jessica Gets a Lot Hotter

Alright, so we reached this creepy junkyard and found out that it was massive. Like, really massive. What's worse? We had to find a tiny shield part here? As unrealistic as those statistics were, we were still up to the challenge.

"Alright, where do we start?" Joel asked.

"Looks like there's something shiny over there." Jessica said, pointing to a part of an enormous trash heap.

"Everything here is shiny, Jess." I replied.

She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

We searched the junkyard for at least an hour, until finally, Kylie shouted from atop what looked like the largest pile, "We're never going to find the darn thing!"

"Well, we don't really have a choice, Kylie!" Shouted Jessica.

The ground shook under our feet and then stopped.

"What was that?" Joel asked nervously.

"Let you know when I find out." I replied.

The ground began shaking again and Kylie screamed. We looked up to see a huge mechanical wolf rise from the assortment of junk and stretch its legs. Worse, Kylie was on top of that thing.

But what the heck were we supposed to do?

The Wolf turned to look at us.

"Now what?" Jessica screamed.

"Split up!" Joel shouted, "It can't take us all down!"

Actually, it could. Easily. At that point, I noticed Kylie was climbing down one of the automaton's (as I was later told they were called) silver legs.

Sadly, this wolf didn't want to cuddle. It stomped its foot wildly, causing dust to fly up around it. My heart skipped a beat as the dust cleared. Kylie was getting up from the ground, covered in powdery dust. She quickly drew her bow and fired what looked like a _flaming_ arrow. The arrow caused a small fire to burn on the Wolf's stomach. Kylie scrambled back to us.

"Kylie, where'd you get that arrow?" I shouted.

"Don't ask questions now!" Kylie screamed, "Just focus on taking that thing down!"

The Wolf turned to Jessica, who was running around it with her sword drawn (which, by the way, was, in this situation, about as useful as a small plastic knife). It pulled its head back and in a terrifying few seconds, shot a single, short blast of fire at the daughter of Aphrodite, completely engulfing her in flames. Kylie instantly rushed to her side. She poured the water from her canteen on her. Luckily, it went out, but Jessica was still hurt.

While I had observed that, our mechanical friend had taken a certain liking to me.

Joel was holding something small and round with little designs etched in it. He looked like he was trying to get at a good angle to throw it at our foe.

"Joel," I shouted, "give it here! I'll destroy it!"

"And how do I know you won't hit _me_ with it?" He shouted back.

"Please! Just trust me!"

He thought for a second before tossing me the "something".

"Just throw it and it'll go off!"

I did as he said, throwing it at the machine's muzzle. Instantly, it exploded in green flame.

I quickly jumped back as he Wolf's head burn off, and it fell to the ground, inactive.

We rushed to see if Jessica was alright. Kylie had fixed her up with some of the Nectar, and I'm guessing she had used her own abilities to fix her singed clothes.

"Hey, Joel, what was that thing you made me throw?"

"Greek Fire grenade. Lucas gave them to me before we left."

"And how come you didn't use that thing earlier?"

"I needed to be in the right position. I was about to throw it until it started breathing fire. I knew its torso must've been fireproof, and you happened to be standing right there.

"We're going to need to find that Fragment now." Kylie said. "Jessica, are you okay?"

Jessica nodded, "I'll pull through." She assured, starting to stand up.

"You have to admit, it was pretty clever of him to hide a Fragment in a giant trash heap." I muttered in annoyance.

"I guess so," replied Joel, "My dad is pretty smart."

"So, how does it feel knowing about your sister and all?" I asked as we continued searching.

"He paused for a second, "I hate it." He picked something that looked like a piece of the Shield, but wasn't quite it. "I hate knowing that my sister's out there trying to hunt me down. It's horrible living with it."

"What if she sees how the odds are stacked against her and decides to help _us_ out?"

"I guess that's a possibility." Joel sighed.

"I found it!" Jessica shouted, "I found the Fragment!"

We rushed to take a look. It was the fragment, alright. It was the same shape as the others, but it was a bit dirty.

"Kylie, I meant to ask, where'd you get that flaming arrow?"

"They were in the car when my dad gave it to us."

Well, we got back to that (ever so sparkly but slightly dented) car, and unfolded the map. An area over the coast of California cleared away in a sort of purple fog like pattern on the map, revealing a dot that said

Garden of the Hesperides, Mt. Tamalpais

"Guys!" Kylie announced, "We're heading to California!"


End file.
